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Chapter Bulletin - March 2015

This email is being sent to all chapter officers.
The contents should be shared with club members as appropriate.

March 9, 2015

Hello Chapter Officers:

With this Chapter Bulletin, we are providing you with an issue of our signature digital publication, Woodturning FUNdamentals. Normally available to AAW members only, we encourage you to distribute this publication to all chapter members regardless of their AAW membership status. Woodturning FUNdamentals is released in alternative months to our American Woodturner journal. By sharing this publication with your entire chapter membership, we hope to illustrate one additional benefit of AAW membership.

MARCH ISSUE OF WOODTURNING FUNDAMENTALS

Woodturning FUNdamentals issue 4:2 will be released on March 10th. We ask for your help in passing this free issue along to all your members. This issue of Woodturning FUNdamentals contains the following features and should have broad appeal to all woodturners:

Information about the AAW 29th Annual International Symposium in Pittsburgh

BEST PRACTICES REVISIONS COMING IN MARCH 2015

Within the next few weeks, we will publish two new resources for chapters. These include updated information to assist chapters interested in becoming recognized by the IRS as a 501(c) (3) charitable organization, and a revised best practice resource for developing chapter bylaws. Improved guidance from AAW for each of these important areas was among the improvement recommendations identified by the Chapter Relations Initiative (CRI) working group in 2014.

New 501(c)(3) Best Practice

AAW has responded to the recent changes by the IRS first mentioned in the January Chapter Bulletin, to streamline the application process for smaller nonprofits to attain recognition as charitable organizations under IRS under subchapter 501(c)(3). The IRS has established a new, streamlined “1023EZ” online application procedure that promises to simplify the process and accelerate the review and approval timeline. AAW’s new Best Practice resource will explain both the new and the traditional 501(c)(3) application processes, and include links to online resources published by the IRS.

New Chapter Bylaws Best Practice

AAW will also publish a revised Best Practice covering chapter bylaws. The new information will include simplified instructions and actual chapter bylaws models. We will time the release of the Bylaws Best Practice with the 501(c)(3) resources because properly written chapter bylaws that align with the requirements established by the IRS are important to the application process for obtaining charitable organization status.

AAW MEMBER SERVICES REVIEW

Over the past several months, the AAW home office has undertaken a project to review all of the services and publications the AAW currently offers. The user segments that rely upon these offerings have been identified. We are now preparing for a comprehensive organizational project to identify gaps between the user segment needs and the services and publications that the AAW provides. The goal of this initiative will be to identify the opportunities the AAW is missing so that we can reposition what we offer to better meet the needs of all woodturners.

A partial results summary from this review is included below to illustrate the breadth of our current programs for three user segments. We intend to have more information about this new initiative to present to chapter officers during the annual chapter meeting at the Pittsburgh symposium in June.

NEW CHAPTER MAP AND EVENT SCHEDULING TOOLS

Related to the 2014 recommendation report from the Chapter Relations Initiative work group to improve communications and services provided by the AAW home office, the AAW is creating a web-based tool to view and obtain information about scheduled demonstrations, chapter events, and regional symposia schedules. This tool will graphically display all chapter locations and include brief descriptions about each chapter, including regularly scheduled meeting times. AAW has been developing an easy-to-use Google Maps application and will perform usability testing of a beta version during the month of March. We expect to more formally present this new tool in the April Chapter Bulletin.

2015 CHAPTER LIABILITY INSURANCE

The 2015 renewal of the AAW Group Plan went into effect on February 15th. Unless chapters indicated otherwise, all chapters participating in the Group Plan during 2014 were automatically renewed for 2015. Invoices for the 2015 premium contribution of $95 have been sent out over the past two weeks. If you have any questions about your Group Insurance coverage or your payments, please contact Phil McDonald phil@woodturner.org or Linda Ferber linda@woodturner.org by email or phone 877-595-9094 (toll free).

2015 AAW PITTSBURGH SYMPOSIUM

Each month now through June, we will furnish updates and information about the AAW Pittsburgh Symposium. The pace of registrations as of the end of February is trending toward the planned target of 1,800 attendees. The current assessment of our planning and progress, collectively among all of the central organizers of the event, is that things are proceeding extremely well to prepare us for the expected historically high number of attendees. Visit symposium website.

Hotel Availability

We remind everyone to make your lodging arrangements as soon as possible. As of this date, the Omni William Penn hotel is still taking reservations but the number of available rooms will soon be reached. Nearly 300 additional rooms with a discounted group rate will soon be added at another hotel to meet the demand. Click here for hotel information.

Please donate bowls

The 2015 AAW Symposium ReTurn to the Community “Empty Bowls” project will support Variety the Children’s Charity of Pittsburgh (Variety). Variety offers adaptive and assistive technologies to children with disabilities to allow them to gain the freedom to be as active, involved, accepted, and independent as possible.

The local Pittsburgh chapters are issuing an open invitation to all AAW chapters to create and donate bowls (or other turned items) which will be sold to help support Variety’s programs.

Woodturners make and donate to Beads of Courage lidded bowls or boxes which will hold the beads children acquire as they go through stages of treatment. The donated containers will be displayed in the Instant Gallery and will be delivered to local hospitals.

Please contact Linda Ferber at linda@woodturner.org for more information about contributing pieces to either of these important charitable projects.

ONGOING UPDATES

APP FOR MOBILE DEVICES

We are regularly updating the information that can be found on the AAW Pittsburgh Symposium website. Also, we are updating the Pittsburgh event app which is free and can be downloaded by anyone. Whether you are planning to join us in Pittsburgh or if you want to keep in touch with all that will be happening, we welcome you to download the app to your mobile device. Click here for download instructions.

CALL FOR ENTRY - ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO PARTICIPATE

The AAW is partnering with the Association of Woodworking and Furnishings Suppliers® (AWFS®) in the creation of Turning to the Future, a student woodturning competition and exhibition. The competition is open to high school and post-secondary students in art, design, or trade programs. The finalist pieces will be on display at the AWFS Fair, July 22-25, 2015, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Please help us by reaching out to students you have been teaching, to encourage them to enter their works. Cash prizes will be awarded and the deadline for entry is May 1. Click here to learn more.

LAST CALL FOR VIDEOGRAPHERS - AAW SYMPOSIUM 2015

The AAW seeks videographers for its 29th Annual International Symposium in Pittsburgh, PA, June 25-28, 2015. Applicants should have experience with video camera equipment, possess technical competence, and be able to make decisions regarding lighting, shooting angle, placement of microphone, etc. Applications will be accepted now through March 30, 2015. Videographers selected for six rotations will receive a free symposium registration. Deadline: March 30, 2015. Click here to apply.

Yours respectfully,

Phil

Please Update Member & Chapter Information

Member Updates ~ This is a reminder that our chapter officer listings are only as accurate as the information supplied by you. The AAW Member Directory is available 24/7 on our new and improved website at woodturner.org. Changes you make electronically are “live” for all to see immediately. A hard copy of the Directory is also printed every two years, and the next printing is scheduled for early 2015. To ensure your member profile information is correct in the upcoming printed Directory, please login to your membership account and review/update your profile.

New Website ~ AAW’s website has improved design, navigation, and function. Content is updated often to give you a reason to visit regularly. You can now go online to renew your AAW membership, build a member profile (including photos), send messages to other members, control your privacy settings, print your membership card, view your AAW invoices, and more.